Taking Chances

“Holy fucking shit,” Zayn grunted as he dropped a box on the floor of what was going to be my bedroom, not taking into any consideration what could have been inside. Thankfully, it had just been clothes, but still.

“Hey, Bails,” Liam called from the doorway as he stepped inside, a box labeled BOOKS held steadily in his hands, “where do you want this?”

“Uh, next to the bookcase, if you could?” I suggested with a smile.

He nodded wordlessly and maneuvered around my bed. Once he reached the point I’d mentioned, he placed the box down gently on the ground before standing up again, brushing the creases out of his jeans.

“Can I just point out,” I started, raising an eyebrow at my boyfriend while Liam made his way over to us, “that you almost cried because you were carrying a box of clothes, and Liam was able to carry a box about the same size as yours, except filled with books, without breaking a sweat?”

“Shut up,” Zayn laughed, shoving me playfully. “What are you going to do next? Talk about how scrawny I am next to him?”

“Want us to flex at the same time?” Liam offered with a smug little smile.

“Get out,” Zayn snapped jokingly.

Liam put his hands up in surrender and slinked out the door, calling almost immediately, “OH MY GOD, LOUIS, NO. HOLD ON.” Followed seconds later by a crash and a moan.

“I don’t even want to know what’s happening,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

“Louis probably carried something by himself that he shouldn’t have been,” Zayn shrugged off before wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling my body right up against his.

“Do you think he’s okay?” I questioned, my eyes sneaking around Zayn’s face to check out the door.

“He’s fine,” he assured me. “I don’t hear Liam ringing an ambulance or screaming for anyone else to do it, so he’s alright.”

“Whatever you say,” I trailed off patronizingly.

“Hey,” he smirked, leaning closer to my face, “that’s my line.”

“And I stole it,” I finished, planting a fast kiss on his lips. “And that’s all you’re getting for now. C’mon, you said you’d help.”

“That was before I realized how much shit you have,” he responded defensively. “How long have we been at this?”

I pondered that for a second. “Well, you guys started bringing in the furniture around eight thirty…and that took a long time because you guys had to go three guys to a piece of furniture if Liam wasn’t involved. So I guess it’s been about…” I pulled out my cell phone and checked the time. “Almost three hours,” I told him without looking up from my cell screen.

Zayn let out a loud groan, throwing his head back dramatically. “And how much more stuff do you have?”

“Hey!” I laughed. “Again, you’re the one who offered to do this. Rebecca and I were going to get a real moving crew. And they’d probably be done by now.”

“And I also offered to have to guys continue to live in my apartment.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, glaring through his soul. “Bring that up again, and I’m going to shove the ring you gave me down your throat.”

He looked like he was about to laugh, but after looking at my face again, only a soft chuckle escaped. “I’m going to go help the other guys now,” he announced, inching toward the door slowly.

“Yeah, good idea,” I seconded with a tight smile.

With that, he scampered out of my bedroom without bothering to glance back at me.

I laughed and shook my head as I made my way out to the living room, where Rebecca was sitting on my couch, feeling the texture of the fabric.

“Thank God you had furniture,” she started when she spotted me. I plopped down next to her, crossing my left leg over my right, and turned so she could finish her statement. “Because otherwise, we’d just be sitting on the floor right now.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” I pondered, curling my toes to feel the carpet a little bit. “It’s soft. But it’s good that I had furniture so we don’t have to go out and spend thousands of dollars to furnish the place.”

“That, too,” she agreed emphatically. “’Cause God knows I don’t have the money.”

I frowned at her, brushing my hair out of my face. “I would have paid, Rebecca. You need your money for college.”

She rolled her eyes. “There’s no way that I’d force you to pay for every piece of furniture in this house.”

“Oh my God,” I grumbled, preparing to fight one of our arguments where we go back and forth, both of us trying to claim the title as the nicest and most selfless.

But instead, Liam intercepted, sitting on Rebecca’s other side and sneaking in a kiss, right on her lips.

Her face immediately exploded with a blush, turning bright red from her forehead to her ears and down her neck.

Liam pretended he didn’t see it and asked, “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I want to help,” she voiced honestly. “I feel so useless, just sitting on the couch.”

I let out a snort. “Honey, if Zayn and Louis are failing, you’re going to fail, too.”

She stuck her chin in the air proudly. “I bet I can do better than them. They’re probably not lifting from their knees, like they should be.”

“No,” Liam spoke up, taking my side, “I’m not going to let my girlfriend get squashed by a massive box.”

“But I wouldn’t-” she started trying to argue, but Liam cut her off by getting to his feet and kissing her forehead.

“I’m going to go finish helping. Why don’t you guys pick someplace to get some food for when we’re done?”

I nodded, and he looked satisfied as he started walking away.

But instead of discussing possible dining options, I slapped Rebecca off the shoulder. Possibly a little too hard, judging by the brief grimace that passed her face.

“Ow,” she muttered before bursting out laughing. “What was that for?”

“GIRLFRIEND?” I squealed, bouncing up and down on the couch.

Rebecca slapped a hand on my knee, trying to keep me from looking so excited. “Stop it!” she chuckled. “What is wrong with you?”

“He called you your girlfriend! Are you guys official?” I lowered my voice and made it as teasing as possible. “Are you two going steady?”

She laughed loudly, punctuated with a snort. “Oh my God, stop it.”

“How many times are you going to say that without answering my question?” I whined.

She stayed silent for a little longer, but once she saw my dramatic pout, she cracked a grin and revealed, “Yeah. I guess we’re…‘going steady." The air quotes she used around 'going steady' would have made me laugh if I wasn't so excited about the fact that they were finally a real, official couple.

“YES!” I exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. “I knew it! You guys are so freaking cute. UGH. I can’t even stand it.”

When I stopped fangirling, I saw Rebecca’s face pale before it filled again with a violent blush.

Following her gaze, I saw Harry giving us an amused look. “You okay over there, Bails?”

“Peachy,” I replied with a huge, cheesy smile that wasn’t entirely fake.

He shook his head, letting a couple curls fall into his face, before he finished bringing a box of photos into Rebecca’s room.

“Now all we need is for Louis to grow a pair and ask out Harper…” I trailed off with a smile.